Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! Sorry for the figurative and literal cliffhanger in the previous chapter. Enjoy more pain *hides*

Beta & Co-author: jeangirlmy *evil laughter*

- Chapter Start -

Wu Xie's eyes widen even more.

"Don't you dare!"

Jiang ZiSuan smiles.

"I'll give Jie your regards." He releases Wu Xie's wrist.

"No!" Wu Xie screams.

Wu Xie's experienced more than his fair share of heart stopping moments and near fatal falls. He's never experienced this abrupt finality represented by the sudden absence of Jiang ZiSuan's weight. He stares down the cliff, barely taking in the huge and ornate building far below.

He couldn't save him.

Blood is still rushing in his ears. The muscles in his right arm are tingling in protest, fingers almost spasming at how tightly he'd gripped Jiang ZiSuan's wrist just moments earlier.

He couldn't save A-Ning's brother.

The careful footsteps approaching him are near silent, but Wu Xie feels the faint vibrations in the ground. Rolling onto his back, he lashes out, kicking away the knife plunging towards him. Er Jing curses, but manages to grab the backpack off his shoulder before pointing the knife at him.

Slowly, Wu Xie gets to his feet, all too conscious of the yawning chasm beside him.

"Your sniper's gone, Xiao San-ye," Er Jing says with a smirk and waves his knife. "Walk in front of me. I don't want your friends to try any tricks."

Wu Xie glances at the edge of the ledge and shoves all the guilt and pain down to deal with later.

I'm sorry, Jiang ZiSuan. I'll bring you home, I promise.

- o -

The fight in the clock room is at another stalemate. Pang Zi and Liu Sang are on one side while two conscious guards are on the other, all four of them aiming crossbows. Bai HaoTian, Jia KeZi, Li JiaLe sit propped against crates, but Wu Xie is relieved to see they're still conscious.

"Tianzhen!"

"Wu Xie!"

Xiao San-ye!"

"No one move," Er Jing warns them with the knife held to Wu Xie's throat. He turns to his men. "Set explosives by this entrance."

"Yes, Jing-ye." The two men shove past Wu Xie onto the ledge.

In seconds, they report that the explosives are ready. With another smirk, Er Jing gives Wu Xie a hard shove that sends him stumbling inside the clock room before backing out.

"Get down!" Wu Xie shouts just before the blast knocks him off his feet.

- o -

"... zhen. Tianzhen!" Something or someone is patting his cheek with annoying persistence.

Grumbling, Wu Xie bats away Pang Zi's hand - who else could it be? - away and opens his eyes to look around. He's lying on the ground, head pillowed on Pang Zi's lap. The fallen guards are in a large and untidy heap in a corner. Bai HaoTian is holding a bloodstained cloth to an unconscious Jia KeZi's ears while sporting a bandage around her other arm. Liu Sang is wincing and cleaning blood from his own ears. HongHong seems to be sleeping. Li JiaLe is leaning back against a crate beside Jia KeZi, eyes closed as Huo DaoFu attends to the side of his head.

The latter looks downright pissed. Somehow, Wu Xie isn't surprised to see him here.

"Finally awake?" Huo DaoFu asks without looking up.

"Yeah." Wu Xie looks back at Pang Zi.

"I'm fine, not a scratch. We're all okay," Pang Zi assures him.

"Speak for yourself," Liu Sang mutters with a tired glare.

"How about you, Tianzhen?" Pang Zi asks. "You smacked your head pretty hard."

"I'm fine." Wu Xie struggles to sit up with his assistance, but the room spins alarmingly, making him groan.

"Lie back down. You and Li JiaLe have possible concussions." Huo DaoFu's voice is tight but his fingers gentle as he tapes a bandage to Li JiaLe's forehead.

"Thanks," Li JiaLe says weakly and tries to sit up as well only to groan and slump back.

"What did I just say? Stay still!" Huo DaoFu scolds him. "You're experiencing nausea. We don't need anyone being sick in this enclosed space."

Just the thought is enough to make Wu Xie's stomach rebel.

"Can't we go somewhere else?" Liu Sang asks in a plaintive tone. "I want to find ouxiang."

Wu Xie can't blame him. The endless whirring and chiming from the clocks are also getting to him, and he's not the one with hypersensitive hearing. Besides, he misses Xiao-ge too.

Taking a deep breath, Wu Xie pushes himself to sit up, ignoring the spinning room and Huo DaoFu's annoyed "Tsk!"

"There's a ledge out there. I saw what looks like the South Sea King's palace, way down." He points at the entrance now sealed with rubble. "We're on a high cliff. Jing-sh... Er Jing and his men have likely rappelled down with the bronze piece from my backpack."

"We have to stop him!" Pang Zi exclaims.

Meanwhile, Huo DaoFu comes over to slide careful fingers into Wu Xie's hair. Wu Xie winces when they find the growing lump at the side of his head.

"Light concussion. You'll live," Huo DaoFu says dryly. "Hurt anywhere else?"

"No." Minor cuts and bruises don't count.

Where's ZiSuan?" Huo DaoFu asks next, making Wu Xie's heart skip a beat.

The others look around.

"I saw him and one of Er Jing's men go through there." Liu Sang nods at the same entrance. He's trying to stuff his ears with rolled up strips of the bloodstained cloth.

"He saved me earlier. Again," Jia KeZi says, opening his eyes.

That awful emptiness rears up inside Wu Xie once more.

"He's... gone."

Everyone turns to stare at him.

"Gone?" Huo DaoFu repeats in a sharp voice. "What do you mean, gone?"

"Did Er Jing take him?" Bai HaoTian asks.

Wu Xie shakes his head and wishes he didn't when it gives a painful throb. His stomach roils again.

"He and his opponent fought, rolled to the edge of the cliff and... went over. I managed to grab Jiang ZiSuan's hand."

A moment of awful silence.

"And then?" Li JiaLe asks.

"Er Jing was coming over with a knife," Wu Xie continues dully. "Jiang ZiSuan let go."

Another silence.

"He fell," Huo DaoFu says, his voice flat.

Wu Xie nods.

"He... he's dead?" Jia KeZi's voice sounds hollow.

"He can't be!" Li JiaLe jumps to his feet and would've fallen over if not for Bai HaoTian grabbing his arm and then hissing in pain.

"Xiao Bai?" Wu Xie asks in alarm.

"I'm fine, Xiao San-ye," Bai HaoTian quickly says. "Jiang ZiSuan... fell? Over the cliff? How high is it?"

Wu Xie squeezes his eyes shut.

"A hundred feet at least."

Everyone blanches in unison. Jia KeZi turns to Li JiaLe, tears welling up in his eyes. Cursing, Li JiaLe slams a fist into the side of the nearest crate, causing HongHong to wake up with a squawk.

"He could be still alive," Huo DaoFu says, voice sharp with urgency. "He's strong and fit, he could've caught onto something. Or climbed down."

"Or fallen," Liu Sang points out with the reluctance of someone who knows they're giving bad news.

"Doesn't matter." Pang Zi gets to his feet, jaw set. "SuanSuan needs us so let's get started moving the rocks."

- o -

Wu Xie, Li JiaLe and Bai HaoTian sit beside the crates, having been forbidden by Pang Zi and Huo DaoFu from shifting the rocks.

With nothing to do now but wait, aware of every ache in his body, Wu Xie can't stop thinking of Jiang ZiSuan and the resigned acceptance in his eyes. He lived for only a month more after returning from Thunder City. A month in which he'd joined Warehouse 11 and become Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe's close friend. They made sure he was never alone, not that he would've been bullied if he was.

"I didn't even have to keep him company during meals unlike you, Xiao San-ye," Bai HaoTian had reported with a teasing smile that got her hair ruffled in retaliation.

It didn't escape Wu Xie's notice that even Huo DaoFu - as prickly and standoffish as ever - seemed more than happy to keep company with Jiang ZiSuan, refusing his money for treatment rendered and even rooming with him here at Warehouse 11. Granted, HongHong was the only other alternative, but still...

Wu Xie can't even bring himself to smile. Guilt coils in his gut, heavy and bitter. It's been ten years since A-Ning died. First her and now her brother.

No.

Jiang ZiSuan was more than just her younger brother. He was his own person. Strong, determined and protective of his friends. Wu Xie looks at Jia KeZi who's doggedly moving one rock after another, jaw clenched and silent tears rolling down his face which he keeps having to wipe with a sleeve. Li JiaLe sitting beside Wu Xie has his jaw clenched too, but his breath is stuttering and his eyes are wet. As are Huo DaoFu's behind his glasses.

Wu Xie tips his head back against the crate and closes his burning eyes.

- Chapter End -

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it :)

jeangirlmy: Rip that SuanSuan guy, amirite?

yengirlmy: Eeek! You can't say something like that, you'll scare all our readers away! Anyway, uh... please comment?